Resident Evil Requiem has shown that Capcom’s gaming domination isn’t slowing anytime soon. The game just became the fastest-selling entry in the horror franchise’s history, a year after Monster Hunter Wilds had the biggest launch for that series. The critically acclaimed games and strong sales haven’t gone unnoticed by fans or industry watchers. Saudi Arabia, currently in the process of gobbling up Electronic Arts, just grabbed a 5 percent stake in the Resident Evil maker.
The timing is notable. Requiem hit 6 million sales in its first couple of weeks, Capcom announced on Monday. “Going forward, Capcom plans to implement several measures, such as ongoing support and additional game content, so players can continue to enjoy the title longer,” the company wrote. DLC is already rumored to be coming later this year, and Capcom is teasing other plans ahead of the franchise’s 30th anniversary later this month.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, just expanded its stake in gaming with a new 5 percent shareholder stake in Capcom, GameBiz reports (via Automaton). The stock was purchased by Electronic Gaming Development Company, an investment subsidiary under Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s MiSK foundation.
That’s the same group that recently took over SNK Corporation, shoehorned Cristiano Ronaldo into the new Fatal Fury, and oversaw the release of an AI slop trailer for the fighting game’s second year of seasonal content. The company claims its new stake in Capcom is “pure investment” to reap profits from the stock. The new stake is in addition to the existing 5 percent stake that the Saudi Public Investment Fund previously purchased.
The other wing of Saudi Arabia’s growing gaming ambitions is Savvy Games Group, an investment vehicle led by former Activision exec Brian Ward. He was recently interviewed at GDC 2026 about the group’s long-term vision after it acquired high-profile companies like Scopely (Monopoly Go) and Niantic (Pokémon Go). Ward claimed Savvy is in no rush to make any changes, per Game File.
Saudi Arabia’s expansion into gaming investments is as much about acquiring cultural capital and soft power as anything else, which makes the recent war launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran a test case for the Kingdom mixing business and geopolitics. The Washington Post previously reported that Saudi Arabia had been lobbying President Trump for weeks to get him to bomb Iran.
“It’s obviously not helpful for the region to have this escalation, and it will probably change or cool the perception of it as being a stable and quiet place where people want to go,” Ward told Bloomberg about the war his bosses appear to have supported. In addition to over 1,000 dead and regional fears about missiles and drone warfare, the war has been spiking the global price of oil, which benefits the company currently trying to close a deal to buy EA for $55 billion, much of which is financed by high-interest debt.
Saudi Arabia also recently consolidated its control of the biggest Street Fighter tournament event of the year, Evo. It’s also reportedly still pursuing other acquisitions in gaming. Despite calls for more regulatory scrutiny, a friendly Trump administration seems unlikely to do anything but rubber-stamp the current EA deal.
